Dona Ana County finishes tally of provisional ballots

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office says Dona Ana County has finished processing about 1,100 provisional and other ballots that needed to be tallied by hand.

The process wrapped up Sunday, nearly a week after the general election. The county’s canvassing board plans to meet Tuesday to review the returns and certify the results.

The spotlight was on the county as it took nearly 24 hours after the polls closed last week to count thousands of absentee ballots that ended up deciding the race for southern New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District.

The Associated Press called the race for Democrat Xochitl Torres Small after the absentee ballots put her over the top. The unofficial results updated Monday expanded her lead.

Republican Yvette Herrell has not conceded. Her campaign did not immediately return messages left Monday.